As a Mandarin theatre company in multicultural Singapore, we see Chinese culture as the foundation of our work rather than the centre of our practice. Artistic Director, Nelson Chia
As a Mandarin theatre company in multicultural Singapore, we see Chinese culture as the foundation of our work rather than the centre of our practice.
An award-winning Singapore Mandarin theatre company, Nine Years Theatre (NYT) is dedicated to the creation of high-quality performances. NYT sees Chinese culture as the foundation of its work but not the centre of its practice. We believe in the uniqueness of local Chinese culture and aspires to recognise and celebrate the multicultural identity of the Singaporean Chinese through theatre. NYT tells stories through live performances that remind us of our humanity. Since our inception, NYT has been invested in the training of actors, in order to create work that is consistent in quality. We strive to entertain audiences in ways that are honest and thoughtful. Our work is recognised for being accessible and culturally layered, possessing deep sensibilities that speak to audiences from all backgrounds. Fluid in scale and genre, NYT creates performances ranging from original plays and transcreations, to interdisciplinary and international collaborations. In recognition of our contributions to the promotion, enrichment and development of Singaporean Chinese culture, NYT was awarded the Singapore Chinese Cultural Contribution Award (Organisation) presented by the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre in 2024. Nine Years Theatre is supported by the National Arts Council under the Major Company Scheme for the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028. We are a charity with Institution of Public Character (IPC) status.
For Nine Years Theatre to have its own home with spaces for training, creation and performance.
Since the beginning, Nine Years Theatre had chosen the hard route of investing time and effort in the training of our actors. In 2014, the NYT Ensemble – a group of company actors who trained systematically and regularly over an extended period of time – was created. Subsequently, the NYT Ensemble demonstrated the strength of an ensemble model with the numerous productions it offered to the Singapore theatre scene. Through the years, it remained the only ensemble of this nature in Singapore. In 2021, having worked with this model for 7 years, and in consideration of the evolving theatre ecology, Nine Years Theatre is keen to move forward by exploring other methods of creating work, while keeping our fundamental beliefs in actor training. As such, the company, with the Ensemble members, have come to a consensus to call an end to the NYT Ensemble. Past members include: Mia Chee (founding member), Isabella Chiam, Hang Qian Chou (founding member), Neo Hai Bin (founding member), Rei Poh (founding member), Ellison Tan, Tay Kong Hui, Jean Toh (founding member), Timothy Wan.
